Page 5 (1/2)

Ingrid laughed under her breath

"Unfortunately not," Rosalind replied "I lost the shipment and five men"

"Steel can be replaced," Jack replied

"So can rid called back

But not the round her teeth The h the Hu with information from several sources in the Echelon The humanist network had already been in place before she stepped into her husband’s shoes and tried to fulfill his dreaun to wonder where so le of darkness was liht Ho to feel the exertion of the night The exciteh the streets on the run from his y began to flag

Beyond the door a single candle sputtered on the table at their entrance The furnishings were sparse and ed They didn’t needcould be left behind in a hurry

Jack shut the door behind the dug into her hip and she shifted

Jack crossed his arht," she said as Ingrid lit the gas boiler to make tea

"I’ him in this mood "We were ambushed as we left the enclaves Lynch and his iven the tip by somebody" Rosalind frowned "I need to discover who--that could be costly"

"What’s he like?" Ingrid asked, looking up from the kettle

Intense Rosalind stilled as unwelcoh her body "Exactly as they say Hard and cold And very determined" The way he’d looked at her--as if he’d tear apart the world to get his hands on her again She shivered "I don’t think I’ve seen the last of him"

"You should have put a bullet in him," Jack said

"I wasn’t in the position," she lied, dropping her gaze "The best I could do was paralyze hi away and I had to flee"

Rosalind could feel Jack’s gaze boring into the top of her head Looking up, she smoothed the expression froht Any luck?"

Tension lingered in his shoulders, then he blew out a breath and glanced at Ingrid "We intercepted the coach carrying the London Standard’s editor toward the Ivory Tower The escape went as planned and one of our roup of metaljackets came and ere forced to separate"

Another avenue lost tonight The editor had printed a caricature in the London Standard of the prince consort with a s over a wan i that again

"No casualties?"

"Not on our side" Though she couldn’t see it, she could sense the vicious smile behind the rid with deceptive casualness Though it rankled, there was no use in her looking for Jererid’s senses were far better suited She’d spent the entireher Tonight had been the first night she’d forced herself to let go, to let Ingrid do what she did best

This tihtings, no scent trail" Ingrid took a deep breath then looked up, her bronze eyes glea "He’s not outside the city walls, Rosa If there’s any hope that he survived--"

"He survived," she snapped There could be no other option, for if there was, then she had failed him Her baby brother, the one she’d practically raised The world blurred, a haze of heat sweeping behind her eyes

Jack’s hand slid over hers and Rosalind looked up in shock as he squeezed her fingers gently, then let go

"It’s not your fault," he rid "And nor is it yours If you can’t find hih Rosalind had been too wrapped up in her cause to pay attention to her brother Jereh talk and bawdy laughter He was al the co that she realized howhim lately

"So he’s not outside the city walls," sheher eyes So tired "That leaves the city"

"No," Ingrid snapped "You can’t even think it"

The thick wall that circled the city borough kept the riffraff out and the blue bloods in Inside it was their territory Their stalking grounds A world of glittering carriages, fancy mansions, silk, and steel

Rosalind slowly lowered her hand "Where else do I look, Ingrid? He was last seen in the Ivory Tower during the bo and the bodies were all accounted for I’d hoped he’d escaped with the few ot away but we’ve hunted some of them down and nobody knohere Jeremy is"

"Which leaves the blue bloods," Jack rid snapped She shoved to her feet "And none of us can get near the Guild Headquarters"

Nighthawks Rosalind stilled The verythe ht of it before? "If anyone knohat happened to the mechs who blew up the tower," she said quietly, "it would be the Nighthawks"

Sensing trouble, Jack shot her a sharp look "What are you planning?"